It is a debate as old as human governments – do the ends justify the means?

Most people will quickly say, “No!” But more often the reality is that we accept that the ends, as long as they are socially acceptable and even desired won’t put up much of an argument when the Government uses means that are not in keeping with the spirit of liberty or are outright violations of law and Constitution. After all, the reasoning goes, if the bad guys hadn’t done bad things, there’d be no reason for the Government to take questionable actions designed to stop them from doing bad things, right?

And so, more often than we want to admit, we accept the premise of ends justifying means.

And then a story comes along that makes us physically ill. The crimes being committed are so disgusting and so horrific that we are all repulsed to the point where we don’t even hear what the Government says it did to catch the perpetrators. Pay no attention to the means because the ends were so justifiably needed that it shouldn’t matter, right.

So consider this for just a moment: Robert Kraft, the billionaire owner of the New England Patriots was arrested after visiting an Asian Massage Parlor that was using numerous illegal immigrant sex trafficked girls to perform various sex acts for money. The Government (in the form of the Police) says that it has “video evidence” of Robert Kraft committing a crime and that after a six-month investigation at least one hundred and seventy-five people have been arrested or are awaiting arrest, including more than one hundred “Johns” who visited the massage parlors.

Now… we all think things about a seventy-seven-year-old man (not to mention the younger patrons) going to an Asian Massage Parlor. We all say that we are appalled and it’s the kind of thing we don’t even want to talk about it in polite society. Maybe we say things like “It’s a victimless crime” or “It’s the worlds oldest profession.” And maybe there is something to that.

Or perhaps we are revolted by the sex trafficking and cheer the efforts by the Government to stop it. whatever the relative morals of the johns, it is their demand that enables the trafficking and we are willing to see that stopped.

Either way, did we not catch that the Government (in the form of the Police) claims to have video evidence after a six-month investigation? Are we okay with the means as long as we approve of the ends?